More stakes success for Harry Angel’s War Machine

Harry Angel’s G1-winning son War Machine returned to the winners’ list, with his fifth stakes win in the G3 Harry White Stakes over 1,400m at Caulfield.

It had been over a year and seven starts since War Machine’s last racetrack win in the 2025 G2 Gilgai Stakes, but the Ben, Will and JD Hayes-trained gelding had been twice placed in Group company over that time.

In Saturday’s race, Mark Zahra sat the six-year-old just behind the pace, in the perfect spot to seize on the lead early in the straight. He faced a stern challenge from fellow G1 winner Private Eye over the final stages but held on to record his eighth racetrack victory by 0.2 of a length with Hughes in third. 

“He’s been a super horse for us. He’s been a bit frustrating since winning a few straight races. Things haven’t quite gone his way with wide barriers and tracks,” Ben Hayes said,

“He had a good run. It was a great ride from Mark. It was good to get a class drop into a race like that.”

He is one of 24 stakes winners for Darley shuttle stallion Harry Angel, eight of which have come in Australia.

War Machine, who won the 2025 G1 Stradbroke, is one of his four Australian G1 winners, and becomes his second stakes winner of the Australian season, joining Angel Capital.